Ascom Urges International Leaders to Address Kazakhstan's 'Resource Nationalism' as 40 Heads of State Gather in Astana for the OSCE Summit

Illegal Expropriation of Energy Assets is a Red Flag for the International Community's Dealings With Kazakh Government

CHISINAU, Republic of Moldova, November 23, 2010 - Ascom S.A. ('Ascom'), the international oil and gas exploration group,
today called on international leaders attending the Organization of Security
and Cooperation in Europe Summit on the 1 -2 December in Astana, Kazakhstan,
to raise concerns about Kazakhstan's ongoing 'resource nationalism'.

40 Heads of State will be attending the summit, including
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French
President Nicolas Sarkozy. Also in attendance will be the UN Secretary
General Bank Ki-Moon, the Chairman of the European Union Jose Manuel Barroso
and the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

In September 2010, Ascom announced it had taken the Government
of Kazakhstan to court in Stockholm following the illegal expropriation of
its investments in Kazakhstan, in direct contravention of the international
Energy Charter Treaty.

Ascom's subsidiary, Tristan Oil, invested over $1billion over
a ten year period in Kazakhstan, but was subjected to a systematic campaign
of harassment by the Kazakh State from 2008. This culminated with the abrupt
cancellation of the Subsoil Use Contracts held by Ascom's local operating
companies and the illegal seizure of its Kazakh assets in July 2010. These
assets are now being operated by state-owned KazMunaiGas.

Ascom believes that this trend should be of concern to other
investors, international businesses and oil companies, such as ExxonMobil,
Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Chevron Corporation, ConocoPhillips and Total S.A.,
operating in Kazakhstan.

Comment

Artur Lungu, Chief Financial Officer of Tristan Oil and
Commercial Vice President of Ascom, said

"The Kazakh Government's authority and legitimacy to
participate in international affairs continues to be severely undermined by
its ongoing illegal expropriation of energy assets and flouting of its own
laws, such as we have experienced. This is to the long-term detriment of its
reputation with international investors, business and governments, the
international rule of law and its economic development.

"For the Heads of State from over 40 countries to attend this
summit and not discuss the very real concerns about the direction of the
country, would be an opportunity missed. If Kazakhstan wants to be seen as a
key participant in international affairs and attract foreign investment, then
it must provide assurances to the international community that it will abide
by the rule of law.

"We would urge any businesses thinking of operating in
Kazakhstan to consider carefully the illegal expropriation of our investment
of over $1bn over ten years."

Notes to Editors

Ascom has been operating in Kazakhstan since 1999, when it
acquired its interests in the Borankol field and Tolkyn field from private
Kazakh companies. Over the past ten years, it has invested approximately
US$990 million (as of 31 March 2010) in exploration and development. These
investments were partly funded through international bond offerings in 2006,
2007 and 2009, when Ascom's subsidiary Tristan Oil Ltd. ("Tristan Oil") sold
US$531million of bonds to international institutional investors. These bonds,
which are held by many blue-chip international investors, were due to mature
in 2012 and are secured against the oil fields that have now been
expropriated.

Prior to Ascom's programme of exploration and investment, the
Borankol and Tolkyn fields were considered by many to be unprospective.
Following its programme of investment, by 2008 Ascom had approximately 100
operational wells in the two fields, with approximately 80 of those producing
56,000 boed per day on average. To support these operations, Ascom had also
constructed significant oil field infrastructure - including investing US$245
million in a Liquid Petroleum Gas plant that when completed would have had a
processing capacity of 7 million cubic metres of gas per day.

In addition to steadily increasing production at those fields,
Ascom made a significant find in its Tabyl Block in July 2008 and declared
the geological discovery of oil and gas fields on the Munaibay and Bahyt
structures of the Tabyl Block in March 2009. In September 2008, Ascom
received seven non-binding offers to purchase its fields, including one from
KazMunaiGas, in the first phase of a formally conducted trade sale process.
After reviewing the preliminary non-binding offers, Ascom decided to further
engage in negotiations with the most competitive bidders in an effort to
acquire binding offers and complete the trade sale process.

Subsequently, a systematic campaign of harassment and illegal
treatment of Ascom arose - believed to have been triggered in part by a
letter from Vladimir Voronin, former communist President of Moldova, to
President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan on the 6 October 2008. The
letter, widely reported by the international media, made a number of false
and defamatory accusations against Anatol Stati, founder and owner of Ascom.

The Kazakh Government's campaign of harassment against, and
illegal treatment of, Ascom's Kazakh investments, has included:

    - Imposition of unfounded criminal fines and tax assessments
    of more than USD 220 million

    - Conviction and jailing of Mr Cornegruta, the General Manager
    of KPM, on trumped up criminal charges

    - Arresting of physical assets, bank accounts and equity
    interests of the company

    - Blocking further exploration and development, and preventing
    daily operations

    - Stalling completion of the LPG plant

    - Interfering with Ascom's attempts to sell its investments
    and ultimately blocking a negotiated sale

    - Asserting spurious violations of the Subsoil Use Contracts
    and subsequently wrongfully revoking these Contracts

    - Seizing operational control of Ascom's investments and
    turning these over to Kazakhstan's State-owned KazMunaiGas

An example of the unfounded nature of the allegations brought
against Ascom and its subsidiaries can be seen in the prosecution of KPM's
General Manager, Mr Cornegruta, who was arrested in April 2009 on false
charges of being an 'entrepreneur' and operating a 'main' or 'trunk' pipeline
without a license.

The alleged main pipeline in the case is part of Ascom's
gathering system, and transports oil to the Uzen-Atyrau-Samara main oil
pipeline. Ascom secured seven independent expert witnesses to attest that
this was not a main pipeline - these were ignored by the Court in favour of a
single expert opinion generated by an employee of the Ministry of Justice
with no oil and gas experience.

In addition to there being no main pipeline, under Kazakh law
Mr Cornegruta cannot be considered an entrepreneur (a specific legal
classification) as he was neither registered as an entrepreneur or the owner
of the company, and is a salaried employee. These facts were disregarded by
the Kazakh Court and he was sentenced to a four year jail term, while KPM was
ordered to pay to the Republic of Kazakhstan approximately US$145 million in
fines. Mr Cornegruta served 18 months of a four year sentence.

Ascom believes the Kazakh government's actions are in clear
and direct violation of the Energy Charter Treaty and has submitted a claim
under the Treaty to the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of
Commerce.

Additional information can be found at www.tristanoil.com

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For additional information please contact: Capital MSL Ph: +44(0)20-7307-5337 / +44(0)20-7307-5338, enquiries at tristanoil.com